1. Hi Guys, today we are going to learn how to do a texture recolour using the Gimp, which is using fabric images to completely change the texture and colour of an outfit. We are then going to use the same project to learn how to fiddle with the alpha in the next tutorial in this series.

2. How do you get the images of fabric to use? I go searching for images to use on places like Google and Yahoo.

For today I’m going to supply you with a fabric swatch that you can use if you wish to complete this tutorial. The image below is still in PNG format so that you get a better quality result when you work with it. Ok, let’s begin.

Create a folder in My Documents and call it “Texture Tutorial project” right click on the lavender swatch below and save it in that folder. This will allow you to find this swatch easily when you need it later.

3.Open up Bodyshop and click Create Parts.

4. Click Start New Project

5. Click Create Clothing.

6. Ensure that the Female, Adult and Everyday categories are selected.

8. The export box comes up next, which is the part of Bodyshop where you name your new project. Give your project a name you can remember, something like texture_tute, then click the tick to Accept Project Name.

9. Next you come to the preview screen. It contains lots of useful information. You are able to view changes you make to the outfit in this screen. You are able to change the category an outfit is viewed under. It also tells you where Bodyshop has saved your project files. The path is likely to be My Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2/Projects/*your filename* (in this case texture_tute). Take note of where to find your files. Keep Bodyshop open but now open The Gimp.

10. Find and open up your Lavender swatch within The Gimp. If you have any questions about the Gimp file system or how to find files in the program, please consult the tutorial on how to use the Gimp on this site or the help files on The Gimp website itself.

11. Next we are going to save your fabric as a Gimp pattern file. This will allow us to use this fabric in versatile ways and to use the texture to change how our project looks. In the top menus click on the menu choice File and the sub-selection Save As.

12. This brings up the Save Image box. Click Browse for other folders.

13. Down the left hand side of the screen you will see the different drives on your computer. Double-click on drive C.

14. Down the middle of the screen you will see the folders that are on your C drive. Double-click on Program Files.

15. Within your Program Files scroll down, find and double click on the GIMP-2.0 folder.

16. Within your GIMP-2.0 folder double-click on the share folder.

17.Within your share folder, double-click on the gimp folder.

18. Within your gimp folder, double-click on the 2.0 folder.

19. Within the 2.0 folder, double-click on the patterns folder. You have now reached the right folder We will save our pattern (.pat) file to the patterns folder. Next we need to select the right file type.

20. Towards the bottom right of the save image box, you will see text that says Select File Type (By Extension). Double-click on that text. (see circled)

21. Find the GIMP pattern (pat) file and single click on it. You have now selected the right file type. Click the Save button on the bottom right of your box and save your file. Congratulations, you have now saved your first texture file in The Gimp. This texture will now appear the next time you open this program. Close The Gimp and reopen it immediately so you can access your texture.

22. Remember back in step 9 we found out where our project is? Follow the path in the Bodyshop files to find your project folder, it should be My Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2/Projects/texture_tute (or whatever you called your project). Open that folder.

In your folder you will see three BMP images

body-stdMatBaseTextureName.bmp- this file determines what colour and texture your outfit is

body-stdMatBaseTextureName_alpha.bmp- this file determines what part of the outfit will show up.

body-stdMatNormalMapTextureName.bmp- helps to determine some of the bumps and shapes of the outfit itself.

For this tutorial we only need to work with the colour and texture of the outfit and will only be working with body-stdMatBaseTextureName.bmp. Open up that file.

23. It helps to take a look at the project you’re working on to try to work out how much you need to do for a project to work. When I examined the original outfit I reached the conclusion that the go-go boots are probably best to remain black; they look just fine that way. So we will only be changing the texture from the hemline upwards. I will however do a straightforward coloured filter over the boot itself and make it look a little blacker.

24. Click on the menu choice Layer, chose the menu option New Layer.

25. This brings up the new layer box. Ensure that Transparency is checked and then click OK.

26.Up on the top left hand corner of your floating toolbar you should see the Select rectangular Regions tool (see circled). Select this tool.

27. Use this tool to carefully select the area of the BMP from the hemline upwards.

28. On the floating toolbar you will see the Fill With a Colour or Pattern paint-pot. Select this tool. Keep Opacity at 100 percent, Fill Mode as Normal and make sure that in the Affected Area section Fill Whole Selection is ticked.

Then make sure Pattern Fill is also selected. That will allow you to change the pattern that the program fills with. Click on the box with the selected pattern underneath the Pattern fill checkbox. You will be able to scroll through and find the Lavender fabric we imported earlier. Select that fabric.

29. Flood fill the area we selected earlier with the Lavender fabric. Make sure you deselect your new flood filled area by going to the Select Menu and clicking the menu choice None.

30. Create another Transparent new layer and select the area of your BMP you have not recoloured Lavender (i.e. everything below the hemline).

31. Select the paint-pot Fill With a Colour or Pattern again. This time make sure you have selected FG colour fill. Leave all the parameters (opacity 100 percent, fill mode normal, fill whole selection). About half way down your floating toolbar you will see two coloured squares on top of each other. Click the top square. This allows you to chose your foreground colour, which is the fill type we are using. Make sure that your foreground colour is black.

32. Fill the area with the black colour you have selected. (the bottom half of your bmp)

33. Select the Dialogs menu and pick the menu choice Layers.

34. This brings up your Layers dialog box. Ensure your top layer you have just recoloured black is selected.

35. Change the Mode to Overlay on the top layer and the Opacity to 60 percent. By doing that, we are darkening the boot, but still letting the detailed shading of the boot show.

Close the Layer Dialog box and save and close your project and the Gimp. Go back to Bodyshop.

36. Refresh your outfit in Bodyshop. You do that by clicking on the curved arrow in the middle of the Bodyshop preview screen (see circled) Your modified outfit should now appear on the podium.

37. Write a comment line on the Tool-tip telling people you made the dress. The tool-tip becomes the text that appears when your mouse hovers over an outfit. Click to import your outfit into your game.

38. Your outfit now appears among your outfit choices in Bodyshop and the Sims 2 itself. Congratulations, you’ve just done your first texture recolour. Keep these project files because we will be using them to do some basic work with the Alpha in the next tutorial I write. But for now, I hope you enjoyed doing this tutorial as much as I enjoyed writing it;
Kind wishes from Kathleen

What about pics, do you do the same thing almost as you did with the Lavender? save it as a .pat?

what do you mean for "pics"? a .pat file is a pattern file so its better to only save patterns of clothing, fabric and such as .pat files. For example if you got a um.... a camouflage image pattern, you can make a .pat file from it to use it in the future.

If you mean pictures, like the picture of a rock band or the face of someone, then they really arent meant to be saved as .pat files as you dont need a pattern of a face which will flood fill a shirt when you are only going to use it as an image on some part of the shirt (e.g. the chest, the back...)

what do you mean for "pics"? a .pat file is a pattern file so its better to only save patterns of clothing, fabric and such as .pat files. For example if you got a um.... a camouflage image pattern, you can make a .pat file from it to use it in the future.

If you mean pictures, like the picture of a rock band or the face of someone, then they really arent meant to be saved as .pat files as you dont need a pattern of a face which will flood fill a shirt when you are only going to use it as an image on some part of the shirt (e.g. the chest, the back...)

I tried doing it with a anime girl on a shirt and tried uploading on this site but i got a Rejection. It said, The admin notes: textures do not meet mts2 standards.

This is not the ideal place place for the question, especially since you didn't even show us a picture of your submission. Anyway - post here: http://www.modthesims2.com/forumdisplay.php?f=473 for feedback and someone will let you know what your submission was rejected. You don't upload your outfit but show us the screenshots you submitted.

This tutorial doesn't quite cover everything - there's nothing about shading in it or other details.

"Undertake something that is difficult; it will do you good. Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." - Ronald E. Osborn

Heyy vashti71, great tutorial. I tried using your tutrial to make a nightgown and it worked great but after exporting it, it showed up really pixelized and ugly, you couldn't even see the pattern I'd used. Do you know why I had this problem?

tiggerypum, thank you for the link but I did what the FAQ said and now Bodyshop doesn't open at all. I'll click it in Start>All Programs>EA GAMES> The Sims 2 Nightlife/Open for Business and nothing will happen. If I click on Start>All Programs>EA GAMES>The Sims 2>The Sims 2 Bodyshop, I get a "The Sims 2 Bodyshop had to shut down (...)" error message. Should I replace my backuped files I made during the FAQ, like it said, and is there another solution?

::EDIT::

So bodyshop finally opened, I guess it was just slow but I tried making a pyjama for my sim but when I exported, it's still pixelised.

Sara, what size graphic are you editing 1024x1024? You need to keep trying to fix your bodyshop or game settings if your stuff is blurry. Maybe put your backed up files back and try again. You will need to change the ones for the most recent ep, if I understand correctly. If you continue to have problems, please post in the thread about fixing bodyshop or start a new thread, because this problem isn't with _this tutorial's instructions_ but about your bodyshop. Thanks

"Undertake something that is difficult; it will do you good. Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." - Ronald E. Osborn

10. Find and open up your Lavender swatch within The Gimp. If you have any questions about the Gimp file system or how to find files in the program, please consult the tutorial on how to use the Gimp on this site or the help files on The Gimp website itself.

i tried searching but i cant find it.... do u have a link for that tutorial?

i just dont kno wat the lavendar swatch is and i cant find anything to help me find it.... and i dont even know what that means please help thanks!!!

The swatch is like the small texture Pattern Vashti provided for this tutorial (the lavender texture). Once you open it with GIMP you must follow the rest of the tutorial and save the swatch as a pattern file (.pat) on the right folder. Once done open the patterns dialogue and use the "refresh" button for the new patter to show up, or simply quit GIMP and restart it.

Once done, you should be able to find and use the pattern. It will be located in the patterns dialouge list depending on how you named it by Alphabetical order.

Jamesrob, you must read tutorials and follow every last step in every piece of directions (and do it, not just read it quickly). Please, if someone points you to where the info is, you must give it your very best before saying 'I don't know'.

"Undertake something that is difficult; it will do you good. Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." - Ronald E. Osborn